Keep Copyright Balance: Stop SOPA and PIPA

As I wrote over on the Tor Project blog, SOPA and PIPA (the House’s “Stop Online Piracy Act” and the Senate’s “Protect-IP Act”) go beyond enforcement of copyright. These copyright bills would strain the infrastructure of the Internet, on which many free communications — anonymous or identified — depend. Originally, the bills proposed that so-called “rogue sites” should be blocked through the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS). That would have broken DNSSEC security and shared U.S. censorship tactics with those of China’s “great firewall.”

Now, while we hear that DNS-blocking is off the table, the bills remain threatening to the network of intermediaries who carry online speech. Most critically to Tor, SOPA contained a provision forbidding “circumvention” of court-ordered blocking that was written broadly enough that it could apply to Tor — which helps its users to “circumvent” local-network censorship. Further, both bills broaden the reach of intermediary liability, to hold conduits and search engines liable for user-supplied infringement. The private rights of action and “safe harbors” could force or encourage providers to censor well beyond the current DMCA’s “notice and takedown” provision (of which Chilling Effects documents numerous burdens and abuses).

On January 18, we’re joining Wikipedia, Reddit, the MIT Media Lab, and hundreds of others in protest, turning a portion of the Tor site black to call attention to copyright balance and remind the US Congress and voters of the value of the open Internet.

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Sismanto said...
Rating: 0 &nbsp

Congress won't listen. We'll see those bokilcng the bill only because they know they CAN for two reasons:Save their congress/senate seat appear to vote against it when the truth is,they KNOW the public will lose because Bluedogs can counter that vote and cancel it out. This is how it's done these days THEATER, APPEARANCE, not reality of a working SYSTEM that doesn't exist AT ALL for the public goodSave your energy, circle the wagons around you and your community for survival

8/23/2012 11:12:46 AM

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Rating: 0 &nbsp

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